Thursday, 15 March 2007

Yeah I know, I said I wasn't going to get any more books but we needed a map for our holiday and to save on shipping costs from Amazon I had to order another book. (well I didn't HAVE to but it seemed a shame not to) I ordered Mason Dixon Knitting and I'm glad I did, although it wasn't cheap!When I first opened it I thought I'd made a huge mistake and that it was going to have to go back but when I settled down later with a cup of tea and looked more carefully, I found that I couldn't stop looking at it. Now I'm not a knitted dishcloth kinda gal really. I mean who on earth would sit and knit a dishcloth - that's what J-Cloths were invented for, and anyway we have a dishwasher so cloths are used for cleaning not dishwashing, but I still enjoyed looking at the dishcloths they had knitted (and the knitted towels? well for goodness sake who needs them!!)

So having thought it was going to be way too shabby chic for my tastes, I kept going and I found that I enjoyed the banter and the style of the storytelling so I carried on reading. Then I got to the bit about knitted quilts and that was much better - It was something totally new for me, I'd never really thought about making a blanket the way they described it and it looks like fun.

There is plenty to read and lovely pictures to drool over and out of this book I will probably make:-The Baby Kimono (but larger for my 20 month old) - I love things knitted all in one piece cuff to cuff.The Decorated Denim Jacket (also for my 20 month old daughter but I'm tempted to decorate my own now too!)A Tilted Log Cabin Blanket (not sure what I'll do with it but it looks so beautiful) .

Things I DEFINITELY WON'T be knitting are the Dishcloths, Hand Towels, Washcloths and Baby Bibs - far too utilitarian and no fun to knit either.

Other projects and photos in the book have inspired me to research other Knitting Designers and Websites so this book will keep me going for a while yet. I'm glad I bought it, I didn't need another knitting book but this one is more fun than a pattern book and I know I'll be keeping it and reading it again and again.

1 comment:

Knit dishcloths are fantastic for wiping things up - any garter ridges or bits (like on the M-D one) help scrub without being abrasive - plus they dry quickly so don't breed germs and can be thrown in the washing machine for a good clean regularly rather than throwing out old j-cloths, so they're better for the environment (I know they need washing but they don't take up much room in a load going on). I wouldn't be without mine now. I think the huge appeal in the US is because cheap cotton yarn is *really* cheap, but I just used regular cotton here - not as cheap but it works fine.